Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
heavily in terms of forgone growth opportunities. The consensus is that institutions make
it possible for new knowledge to be deployed towards influencing the pace and direction
of technical change needed for agriculture to grow and enhance the welfare of those
employed in it. It is therefore considered politically expedient to adopt policies that create
opportunities to establish and sustain institutions that support rural development. To this
end, four groups of end-uses for institutions and information about have been identified by
researchers and other practitioners, have been guided by four principles as follows:
1. Using institutions to implement a net transfer of assets to small producers that provides
an incentive for increased productivity (Delgado, 1999).
2. Using institutions to deliver relevant technical, management and market information
that improve the knowledge and skills available to producers. Many economists have
advocated the convenient route of collective action to enhance social learning as a means
for empowering small producers in terms of knowledge, skills and assets and dealing
with market failures (Hagedorn, 1992; Becker, 1983). In that regard, the benefits of
farmers' organizations have been given a lot of attention in the literature (Carney and
Van Rooyen, 1996).
3. Employing institutions for purposes of risk sharing and provision of agricultural services
and inputs to small farmers.
4. Using institutions as a means to enhance access to profitable markets for small holders.
An important future direction for institutional analysis in southern Africa has to do with
the changing environment in which development takes place today. Taking South Africa as
a test case, there is no denying the significant progress that has been made at the political
level and how far the country has come from its apartheid past. The development scene
of today is characterized by increased complexity and much greater openness than before.
While South Africa's agriculture continues to feature high levels of unemployment and
underemployment, poverty and inequitable distribution of assets, the relevant institutions
have been undergoing constant and rapid change as new political priorities call for
adaptation in established institutions (ICRA, 2007).
Without question, this is a carryover from past approaches which did not put adequate
emphasis on the strengthening of institutions that serve smallholders in South Africa. The
present regime in the country has to contend with agricultural support institutions that
lack the personnel with the appropriate rural development perspective to be of much use
to resource-poor farmers. For instance, many Local Municipalities do not have qualified
agricultural specialists on their staff. In many cases, rural and agricultural development
matters are bunched under a single portfolio managed by a Local Economic Development
(LED) unit that lacks the necessary rural orientation to tackle small farmer problems. Thus,
the important policy shifts of the past few years and the substantial investments to tackle
rural development and poverty reduction issues are not achieving the desired results.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search